Eigen: Building a Workspace
3 months ago
- #Eigen
- #Open Source
- #Google Workspace Alternative
- The author built a European alternative to Google Workspace called Eigen, which includes mail, drive, docs, contacts, and kanban boards with real-time collaboration.
- Eigen is built using modern technologies like Bun, Elysia, Vite, React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and shadcn/ui.
- The architecture isolates each user's data in their own directory with SQLite databases, making backups and scaling easier.
- Challenges include sharing documents, enabling real-time collaboration, and handling search across file-based data.
- Future plans include adding end-to-end encryption, calendar, spreadsheets, presentations, organization support, and protocol compatibility.
- The author is considering scalability, simplicity, extensibility, and decentralization (similar to Mastodon) for Eigen's future.
- Next steps include collecting feedback, refining the scope, and open-sourcing the code for community input and validation.